Hardback | |
May 5, 2011 | |
9780295990835 | |
English | |
280 | |
10 illus., 4 maps | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
1.15 Pounds (US) | |
$95.00 USD | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Paperback / softback | |
February 14, 2013 | |
9780295992938 | |
English | |
280 | |
10 illus., 4 maps | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
.85 Pounds (US) | |
$25.00 USD, £18.99 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Iceland Imagined
Nature, Culture, and Storytelling in the North Atlantic
This cultural and environmental history sweeps across the dramatic North Atlantic landscape, exploring its unusual geography, saga narratives, language, culture, and politics, and analyzing its emergence as a distinctive and symbolic part of Europe. The earliest visions of a wild frontier, filled with dangerous and unpredictable inhabitants, eventually gave way to images of beautiful, well-managed lands, inhabited by simple but virtuous people living close to nature.
This transformation was accomplished by state-sponsored natural histories of Iceland which explained that the monsters described in medieval and Renaissance travel accounts did not really exist, and by artists who painted the Icelandic landscapes to reflect their fertile and regulated qualities. Literary scholars and linguists who came to Iceland and Greenland in the nineteenth century related the stories and the languages of the "wild North" to those of their home countries.
About the Authors
Reviews
"The narrative moves swiftly and elegantly over unusual grounds. . . . The final chapter discusses two present-day controversies . . . Oslund argues convincingly that in both these controversies stories that travelers had written in the 18th and 19th centuries . . . were retold. In doing so she also demonstrates the present day relevance of studying how Iceland has been imagined in the past."—Arne Kaijser, Technology and Culture, Vol. 53 July 2012
"The book is well written and detailed. . . . The outcome is a mental journey in the vast and varying region of the North Atlantic, which brings forward surprisingly many details, even for someone raised and living in Iceland."—Helga Ogmundardottir, H-Environment, April 2012
"One should read this book for its history of ideas and perceptions and its grasp of the tensions that exist and have existed at cultural frontiers . . ."—Russell Fielding, Geographical Review, Vol. 102(1)
"The book is sure to be of interest to those studying Iceland and the North Atlantic's culture and environmental history and those interested in the European understanding of that region. Summing Up: Recommended."—Choice, February 2012
"Oslund's comprehensive critical analysis of the narratives and counter-narratives of the gradual evolution of Iceland and the North Atlantic's perceived exoticism into a regulated, normalized part of 'our' world is a valuable contribution to the fields of environmental, cultural and linguistic history, and to Scandinavian scholarship in general."—John D. Shafer, European History Quarterly, May 2014
Endorsements
"An excellent work, covering unusual ground. The author's mastery of a variety of contexts—Inuit, Faroese, Icelandic, Scandinavian—and different periods—historical and modern—is admirable. Not only does Iceland Imagined nicely chart important historical contours in the North Atlantic region, it offers numerous useful and original observations on themes in history, anthropology, literature, and linguistics."—Gisli Palsson, University of Iceland
Hardback | |
May 5, 2011 | |
9780295990835 | |
English | |
280 | |
10 illus., 4 maps | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
1.15 Pounds (US) | |
$95.00 USD | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Paperback / softback | |
February 14, 2013 | |
9780295992938 | |
English | |
280 | |
10 illus., 4 maps | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
.85 Pounds (US) | |
$25.00 USD, £18.99 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Other Titles by William Cronon
Native Seattle, second edition
Conservation in the Progressive Era
A Storied Wilderness
Other Titles from Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
Wetlands in a Dry Land
Bringing Whales Ashore
Cultivating Nature
Other Titles in HISTORY / Europe / Scandinavia
Christian Krohg's Naturalism
Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North
Seawomen of Iceland
Other Titles in Forestry & related industries
Ecology and Empire
Toward a Sustainable Whaling Regime
Northwest Passage, revised edition